OK, Purple Swamphens are not rare, but the record of one - or two? - that I
saw at the Elster Creek on 1st August is the first definite report for the
City of Bayside that I know of since February 1958.
On the same day there were 4 species of duck, including Hardheads, and
Coots, Moorhens and a Buff-banded Rail, regularly there for 4 or so months
in autumn and winter for the last 4 years.
Four of these species have bred in Bayside for the first time in 40+ years,
illustrating how a little wetland restoration can enhance urban
biodiversity, as well as helping with water filtering and flood control.
It's also a way of encouraging golfers to be more accurate!
Elsewhere in Bayside it continues to be a miserable year for small birds and
I wonder if this, and the appearance of Whistling and Black-shouldered Kites
over the golf courses, is a sign of a wider malaise.
Michael Norris
Bayside Friends of Native Wildlife
PS The Swamphen brings my Bayside list up to 176 species over the last 12
years. Not bad for one of the smallest municipalities in Melbourne.
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